Hospice Society of Camrose and District raises awareness

How would you want to be cared for in the last days of your life? How would you wish a loved one to be cared for? What support would you need? What options do  you have available?

The Hospice Society of Camrose and District is hoping to open discussion on those and other important questions when it celebrates National Hospice Palliative Care Week May 6 to 12.

The Hospice Society of Camrose and District is committed to providing a home-like, hospice setting, compassionate care of the dying, as well as support for their loved ones. According to a brochure being distributed to Camrose businesses this week, it wants "to make available compassionate care so people can die in peace, comfort and dignity, with support for them and for those who care about them.

"The focus is to enhance end-of-life care for all who are facing this difficult time."

The Hospice Society of Camrose and District's long-term goal is to establish a free-standing hospice that would offer physical, social, emotional and spiritual care in a community-based, home-like setting for individuals who are dying and for their loved ones. The Society has commissioned a needs assessment, and is currently awaiting the release of a final report that will show ways it can proceed to improve end-of-life care in the region, as well as determine whether the Camrose and Wetaskiwin area can support a hospice.

Hospice Society board member Treva Olson said there are still many in the community who are not aware of what a hospice is and that they have more choices as to where they want to be at the end of their lives.

"We feel it is important to let people know there is another choice and we hope to be able to offer that in a physical way in this community."

The idea of a hospice received good response at a needs assessment open house attended by approximately 30 people.

"There was not one who was in opposition to the hospice," said Olson. "They shared their stories of different experiences and how the support of something like a hospice or that the kind of care that hospices provide would be very beneficial."

Hospice Society board member Beverly Drever clarified that while a new building would be nice to have, it isn't an end-all be-all.

"We are seeing if that works but there is so much more we hope to bring to the community," she said. "We are working with The Bethany Group and meeting with the Primary Care Network and other key players to see what it is that our community needs."

The Hospice Society of Camrose and District has booked Rosehaven Care Centre Thursday, May 17, for 2 and 7 p.m. screenings of Consider the Conversation, a documentary about living life to its fullest right up to the very end. The hope is that the film will open the floodgates of thought and conversation of the most difficult and often taboo subject.

"I think it is a film that everybody should see," said Drever, who first heard about the film when it was being shown by the hospice society on Saltspring Island. "I think it is a fabulous way  for us to be of service to the community and raise awareness of us being here."

James Roberts, M.D., medical director, Mayo Clinic Health System - Home Health & Hospice, said the film helps to illustrate many areas of improvement in the health care system.

"I would encourage everyone to watch this important film, including physicians, health care workers, patients and families. This film will help us to be better physicians, better nurses, better patients and better people."